The FIM MX3 World Championship is continuously welcoming new riders, in many cases it is either the ‘newcomers’ or the ‘comeback’ riders that turn up to the race unknown and surprise everyone.
One rider that fits into this category is 22-year-old Czech Frantisek Smola, who after two years of riding the AMA series in the United States of America has returned to Europe to ride for team Orion RS Petrol in the MX3 World Championship. The ambitious Smola has set big goals and is looking forward to seeing what he can accomplish here in Europe.
Question: What was your main motivation to come back to the FIM MX3 World Championship?
František Smola: I rode the MX3 series in 2010, but then I received an offer to go to the USA to ride the AMA Outdoor motocross there. It was always my dream to ride there so I didn´t hesitate to go, I took it as a challenge. The first year I had to compete with the amateurs to gain the right to start among the professional AMA riders in the next year. After two years riding there, the Orion RS Petrol team invited me back to Europe to ride MX3 once again. Compared to my previous performance in MX3, where I attended only some of the rounds, this year I will be present at all the rounds, even the overseas round in Brazil. I´m in the team with Petr Bartoš and we are attending the Czech national championship as well as some of the ADAC MX Masters rounds in Germany.
Q: In the USA did you gain a lot of experience while riding with riders like Ryan Villopoto, Davi Millsaps or Ryan Dungey?
Smola: Yes, it was my greatest experience ever. Among those perfect riders I have been achieving quite satisfying results (around 20th place). I consider racing in the USA as one of my biggest achievements ever.
Q: What about your previous experience in the MX3?
Smola: I reached the podium, actually the 2nd place in Spain, 2010, so hopefully I will keep achieving this type of result.
Q: Can you compare riding in Europe to riding in the USA? From your point of view what differences did you notice?
Smola: Riding is different because the tracks are different. Here in Europe, the tracks are more natural and simpler, meaning fewer jumps and lower speed. In contrast, tracks in the USA are very rhythmic and have different designs with more difficult features. That´s why Americans riders are more aggressive and faster.
Q: After all that experience, what do you expect from this season in the MX3?
Smola: I don´t really know. Results wise, I have nothing set as a goal, the most important will be finishing the season without injuries. Our team policy is to have a good atmosphere in order to achieve good results.
Q: What does it mean “good results” for you?
Smola: Of course podium, I would like to finish the season inside the top three, but I have already realized that there are lot of guys riding on the same level, so it will be a tough season for many of us. I consider my biggest rival to be Martin Michek, who I have been chasing for ages, as well as Klemen Gercar and Gert Krestinov. Those guys are really fast so we will see how I deal with this situation.
Thank you František and we wish you a successful comeback to the MX3 scene.